Manslayer
by SilverRibbon
Summary: A single moment, one small change...it will alter one boys life and the eventual fate of Japan. Due to a misunderstanding Yahiko thinks Kenshin died in the battle with Shishio and takes the first few steps down the path that will eventualy lead to events


The Shirobeko was in shambles.

Broken wood and stone struck upward skeletally against the darkening sky like twisted fingers frozen in death's grim grasp. But despite what most would call devastating damage to the restaurant Okishira insisted the building, and the ninja clan who called it home had survived worse.

How much of that statement was truth and what portion the last encouraging murmurs of hope was unsure to those who found the words scant but welcome comfort to those who waited in the gloom. As the battered defenders rested among the wreckage a light chill settled into the air, causing torn tops to be pulled tighter across bare flesh.

Silence reined now, some had their thoughts turned inward to the battles fought in the hours past, others desperately clung to the mantra that loved ones were sure to return if they just waited long enough and believed hard enough.

Yahiko sat with his back gently resting against part of a wooden pillar that still stood firm enough in the ground to serve as a resting spot. The warmth imparted from the sun still clung stubbornly to the earth and the young boy was grateful for the quickly fading heat as he shifted with a wince.

The battle against Shishio's 'Bat man' had taken a lot out of him, Yahiko was all too aware of the burns on his back, chest and forearms. How the crisped skin had started to crack and peal away bare and stinging in the open air.

But Yahiko was a warrior, the son of a Samurai and one of the Kenshin Gumi…he was a man and pain like this was nothing to a real man. He would be strong like Kenshin. The unspoken mention of the ex-hitokiri involuntarily pulled his brown eyes to the shape sitting a ways off, staring into space and huddled under the weight of a too large faded magenta gi top.

Karou.

Karou was waiting for Kenshin, they all were.

Until this battle.

Until Shishio and Kyoto Yahiko thought that a battle could only have two outcomes. You won, or you lost. But…as the night drew on…as the invisible weight that not one of the people waiting would admit to grew heavier the boy knew that to be a childish belief.

You could win a battle, and gain nothing. If Kenshin didn't return..then what had they won?

Even if Shishio was dead, someone else would surely survive from that twisted group or spring from another.

The people of Japan now softened by years of piece and the dispersion of the warrior class would be less than stubble burned in the fire of chaos.

Yahiko ran one dusty damaged hand through his short stiff spikes of black hair in an attempt to banish such dark thoughts and then exhaled slowly breathing deep a few times and battling the exhaustion that shadowed the corners of his vision. Karou's sharp intake of breath alerted him that something was up.

Yahiko scrambled to his feet, eyes widening and what remained of the color he had drained from his face. It was Sano…and that Aoshi guy the Weasel girl was obsessed with. But they were alone, Kenshin wasn't with them.

Yahiko's eyes traveled down the slope Sano's tiered and sagging shoulders, the bloodstained gi top and tattered wraps to the end of his arm. Sano held Kenshin's sword in one gore stained hand. For a moment, just a moment the world stopped and every thing had a sharp edge and crystal clarity Yahiko had never experienced.

Yahiko had lost his father in the revolution, his mother passed away after a long and devastation illness leaving him in the 'supposed' dept of the local 'gangs'. He was made to steal, his mother would have died inside all over again should she have lived to know that her son…that her husbands son….the child of Samurai had sunk so low.

Kenshin and Karou and saved him from that path, from the honor crushing path he had been forced down or worse eventual death after his usefulness was expired. Karou had become almost like a mother to him, something he would never admit to. A glaring venerability that he, like many troubled young boys hid behind playful sarcasm and the occasional insult. And Kenshin…Kenshin….was…the…father…he… The father….

The thought never finished as something in Yahiko broke. Shattered the momentary silence and the bizarre suspension that only moments of profound grief or love could generate. He ran. He ran past the startled Sano, the exhausted and puzzled ninja deaf to Karou's devistaed sobs and the sound of his own name being torn from her grief ridden body.

Yahiko knew one thing at that moment, he could not stay. Karou would brake, she would cry and waist away like she had when Kenshin first left only this time the only way she could follow him would be the final act. He couldn't…he refused to watch that…

Sano…Sano would blame himself. And maybe it was his fault! Why had the stupid roster head come back when Kenshin did not? But even this attempt at covering his grief with anger paled to the knolage that the ex-gangster would have died if it meant helping the Rurouni.

So Yahiko ran, until his legs gave way and his chest burned fiercely from lack of oxygen. He crawled into some dense underbrush at the edge of the city and the darkness enveloping him was welcome.

Back at the remains of the Shirobeko Karou sobbed brokenly her body shook helplessly untill Sano pulled her against him with his good hand. "Oy, little sister….what's all the fuss about? You don't want Kensin seeing you with big 'ol red eyes do you?" he asked causing her to sit up with a gasp and look at Sano with imploring eyes.

"Yes Missy. He is coming home..Kenshin was battered up pretty good but that &# Cop made him stop at the station and give a statement before coming here. Some of the Cops were using bandages and stuff to fix him up a bit… so he wouldn't bleed all over the place." Sano snorted with no little amusement.

"He should arrive in a few minutes… give or take, and want to nap for a weak no doubt..and..." Sano's words were cut off as Karou hugged him so tight the poor guy thought a rib would crack.

She pulled back after a moment relief plain in her features "What about Yahiko..he must have thought…?" Karou started to voice her fears and Sano shrugged it off. After the battle everyone had just been through, Yahiko's momentary upset paled in comparison to the evenings pervious events.

"Ah, the kid 'l probably come back after he cools off a bit." Sano was more concerned than he was showing, but hey…Yahiko would come back after all where else did he have to go?

Sano would go looking for the little rat after Kenshin got there to take care of Missy. Kenshin would recover, and they would go back to the old days just like everyone wanted. The danger was over now…wasn't it?


End file.
